Method and device for automatically placing teat cups onto teats of a milk-producing animal

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for automatically placing teat cups ( 7 ) onto teats of a milk-producing animal, in particular a cow, comprising the following steps: producing a two-dimensional image of teats of the animal, wherein distance information is present for at least a plurality of pixels of the two-dimensional image; evaluating the two-dimensional image and the distance information and establishing at least one position of at least one of the teats in a predetermined coordinate system; determining a further position of further one of the teats on the basis of the at least one previously ascertained position using the stored relative position information relating to a relative position of the teats of the animal in relation to one another; and applying one of the teat cups ( 7 ) to the further teat using the further position. The invention further relates to a device for automatically placing teat cups ( 7 ) onto teats of a milk-producing animal, in particular a cow, comprising a present process controller configured to carry out such a method, said process controller evaluating the information from the sensor and actuating the placement device.

1 . A method for automatically placing teat cups ( 7 ) onto teats of a milk-producing animal, in particular a cow, the method comprising the steps:
 creating a two-dimensional image of a plurality of teats of the animal, wherein distance information for a plurality of image points of the two-dimensional image is available;   evaluating the two-dimensional image and the distance information and ascertaining a position of a first teat in a specified coordinate system;   determining a position of a second teat on the basis of the previously ascertained first teat position using stored relative position information that relates to relative positions of teats of the animal; and   placing a teat cup onto the second teat using the determined position of the second teat.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first teat is a front teat with respect to an imaging sensor, and the second teat is a rear teat with respect to the imaging sensor. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the stored relative position information is established on the basis of at least one previously created two-dimensional image and associated distance information of at least two teats. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , and further comprising the step of:
 offsetting an ascertained position and the stored relative position information against one another to change the stored relative position information.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the step of offsetting the ascertained position and the stored relative position information comprises the step of:
 forming an average value of relative positions.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the step of forming an average value comprises the step of:
 forming a weighted average of relative positions.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional image is created using a time-of-flight sensor having a plurality of image points, wherein distance information is ascertained in a phase detection method for each of the image points. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a teat cup to be placed on a teat is also captured in the two-dimensional image, and the method further comprises the step of:
 ascertaining a position of the teat cup.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the teat cup is moved considering an ascertained position of the teat in the specified coordinate system and the ascertained position of the teat cup in the same coordinate system. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the relative position information for at least one of the teats is stored in the form of a vector, wherein the vector indicates a relative position of the teat with respect to a specified reference point. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the specified reference point is selected to be equal to the position of one of the teats. 
     
     
         12 . A device for automatically placing teat cups onto teats of a milk-producing animal, in particular a cow, the device comprising:
 a placement device; and   a sensor for capturing a two-dimensional image of the teats of the animal and distance information for at least a plurality of image points of the two-dimensional image; and   a sequence control, set up to perform a method comprising the steps of:
 creating a two-dimensional image of a plurality of teats of the animal, wherein distance information for a plurality of image points of the two-dimensional image is available; 
 evaluating the two-dimensional image and the distance information and ascertaining a position of a first teat in a specified coordinate system; 
 determining a position of a second teat on the basis of the previously ascertained first teat position using stored relative position information that relates to relative positions of teats of the animal; and 
 placing a teat cup onto the second teat using the determined position of the second teat. 
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the stored relative position is changed on the basis of at least one previously created two-dimensional image and associated distance information of at least two teats.